Are your goals S.M.A.R.T enough ?

Goals

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high

and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." - 

Michelangelo.

Goals are a form of motivation that sets the standard for self-satisfaction with performance. Achieving the goal one has set for oneself is a measure of success, and being able to meet job challenges is a way one measures success in the workplace. It has been said that "Goal setting capitalizes on the human brain's amazing powers: Our brains are problem-solving, goal-achieving machines."

Goal Setting Funda

Goals that are deemed difficult to achieve and specific tend to increase performance more than goals that are not. A goal can become more specific through quantification or enumeration (should be measurable), such as by demanding "...increase productivity by 50%," or by defining certain tasks that must be completed.

Setting goals affects outcomes in four ways:

1. Choice: goals narrow attention and direct efforts to goal-relevant activities, and away from perceived undesirable and goal-irrelevant actions.
2. Effort: goals can lead to more effort; for example, if one typically produces 4 widgets an hour, and has the goal of producing 6, one may work more intensely towards the goal than one would otherwise.
3. Persistence: someone becomes more prone to work through setbacks if pursuing a goal.
4. Cognition: goals can lead individuals to develop and change their behavior.

How To Set Goals ?

      

Goal setting involves establishing specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-targeted (S.M.A.R.T ) goals. Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that an effective tool for making progress is to ensure that participants in a group with a common goal are clearly aware of what is expected from them.On a personal level, setting goals helps people work towards their own objectives—most commonly with financial or career-based goals.

Goal Setting is an iterative process .Once a S.M.A.R.T cycle is completed, again goals are set starting with 'S' taking into account the mistakes did in previous process of achieving the goal.

Goal Setting In Business

In business, goal setting encourages participants to put in substantial effort. Also, because every member has defined expectations for their role, little room is left for inadequate, marginal effort to go unnoticed.

Managers cannot constantly drive motivation, or keep track of an employee’s work on a continuous basis. Goals are therefore an important tool for managers, since goals have the ability to function as a self-regulatory mechanism that helps employees prioritize tasks.

The four mechanisms through which goal setting can affect individual performance are:

1. Goals focus attention toward goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities.
2. Goals serve as an energizer: Higher goals induce greater effort, while low goals induce lesser effort.
3. Goals affect persistence; constraints with regard to resources affect work pace.
4. Goals activate cognitive knowledge and strategies that help employees cope with the situation at hand.

A Video on Smart Goal Setting